George Moreby Acklom


George Moreby Acklom, was a British writer, editor, literary adviser and critic based in New York City, principally with the publisher E.P. Dutton, and the father of the Hollywood actor David Manners.

Life and career

George Moreby Acklom was born on 17 November 1870 at Nagpore, India, to English parents. He was the brother of military figure Cecil Ryther Acklom and educated at Bedford Modern School in England before graduating BA from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1891.
After his graduation from Cambridge, Acklom went to Canada, where he was initially employed as headmaster of Harrow House School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He then moved to New York City in 1907 to start a career as a literary critic and editor with E.P. Dutton Publishing Company.
Acklom was a prolific book reviewer, editor, translator and contributor. He wrote the introduction to Richard Maurice Bucke's book Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind, which had originally been published by E.P. Dutton in 1901. He was also an editor of John Denison Champlin's encyclopaedia, publisher of research and critiques on the life of the novelist Samuel Butler, and the translator of The Red Gods.
Acklom married Lilian Manners in 1897 and they had two children, both of whom were born in Nova Scotia: Dorothea Cecily in 1898 and Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in 1900. Rauff, who later in life became a very successful actor in the United States, used the stage name David Manners during his career in theatre and in Hollywood films. Acklom died on 26 October 1959 and was buried in Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont, a city located on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California.

Selected bibliography